Behind Her Eyes
by Di12381
Summary: An alternate ending to Jane Eyre.
1. Chapter 1

*-The only characters that are mine are Alexander and Eduard Fitzsimmons and Mrs. Hartwick, the rest are obviously belonging to Charlotte Bronte.

*-Reviews are always welcome

Behind Her Eyes

"Miss Eyre?" Mrs. Hartwick knocked.

"Come in" came the reply.

"Will there be anything else this evening?" the housekeeper asked as the maid placed the tray on the table.

"No thank you, Mrs. Hartwick" Jane replied, her focus returning to the book on her lap.

"Have a good night, miss" the housekeeper exited the room, followed by the maid.

Mrs. Hartwick had been working as the housekeeper at the school for nearly ten years. Miss Eyre was an amiable woman, firm with her employees and motherly to the students, but there was something behind her eyes, a sadness than she could not figure out.

Miss Eyre normally took her evening meal with the students and the teachers, but it was this night, as she did every year that she dined by herself, locked away in her apartment.

"Is Miss Eyre ill, she looked a little pale?" the maid asked.

"Never mind yourself with that, my dear, we have work to do". Mrs. Hartwick had learned long ago to not ask questions when not warranted.

As their footsteps disappeared, Jane looked up from her book, speaking only one word.

"Edward".

It had been more than 20 years since she had seen him last, she was the same age as he was when they met for the first time.

Perhaps if fate had been altered somehow, her life might have been very different. The difficulties of the past would have melted away, for her and Edward and the bliss that each had been wishing for would have finally come to fruition. But fate is a cruel trickster, like placing sweets in front of a child before taking it away; showing Jane what her life might have been like before taking him away from her forever.

An hour later, as Jane was finishing her meal, there was a knock on her door.

"Miss Eyre, you have company" Mrs. Hartwick knocked.

"Who is it?" Jane asked.

"Mademoiselle Eyre?" Jane had not heard that voice in 20 years. The face and voice were the same, but spoiled, impetuous child was gone, replaced by a beautiful, serene woman.

"Adele?".

"It is good to see you again, Mademoiselle, it has been far too long" Adele vigorously kissed the older woman's cheeks.

"You have grown since I've seen you last".

"I have indeed grown, mademoiselle" Adele opened her coat to reveal the child growing within her.

"You are married?" Jane asked.

"Oui, this is my husband, Alexander and this is our son, Eduard".

"Miss Eyre, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Adele has not stopped talking about you since we arrived in England. She insisted that we take a detour before return to Paris". Alexander Fitzimmons introduced himself warmly.

"You are French?".

"On my mother's side, my father was Scottish. I was raised in Paris, we have just returned from visiting with my aunt and uncle in Edinburgh".

"Mama?" Eduard asked, reaching for his mother.

Jane could not help but smile at the boy, even though he was not of Edward's blood, she saw him in the child.

"Say hello to Miss Eyre".

"Mademoiselle" The boy whispered hello into his mother's dress.

"Hello, Eduard" she said quietly, bending down to his height, taking the boy's tiny hand in her own.

"You do know what today is?" Adele asked sadly asked Jane returned to her full height.

"Yes, Adele, I do know" for a moment, both women were in a world of their own, remembering the man they dearly loved and lost.

"I understand you were raised by your uncle after Mr. Rochester died" Jane said quietly.

"Yes, he raised me as his own".

"My dear, I hate to interrupt your reunion, but we must arrive at the inn before it gets any later" Alexander gently interjected.

"Oh yes, of course" Adele looked around the room suddenly; Jane seemed to understand what Adele was looking for, handing her a pencil and a piece of paper.

"You will write to me, Mademoiselle?" Adele asked, hastily scribbling her address.

"Of course" Jane agreed, and then let Adele and family out.


	2. Chapter 2

*-The disclaimer is in chapter 1 if you are looking for it.

*-Reviews are always welcome

Chapter 2

Jane went to sleep that night, thinking of nothing but Edward and the last time she returned to Thornfield.

_She heard his voice calling to her._

"_Jane! Jane! Jane!". _

_That all the impetuous she needed, as much as she tried to convince herself, her heart was not here, at Moor House, but at Thornfield, with him._

_Before her cousins could intercede, Jane had left Moor House and was traveling as fast as she could to reach Thornfield._

_She arrived two days later, her heart soaring, knowing this was where she was meant to be. _

_But it was not as she remembered. Thornfield looked as if fire had touched it, only a shell had remained of the building. _

_The first person to greet her was Mrs. Fairfax, exiting from her room in __Ferndean__ as Jane remembered her, her silver hair held back under her black widows cap. _

"_Miss Eyre" Mrs. Fairfax seemed surprised to see her. _

"_Is something wrong?" Jane noticed the alarm on the widow's face._

"_I may as well tell you before you hear it elsewhere. After you left, a fire destroyed Thornfield. It was set by Bertha, Mr. Rochester's wife. Mr. Rochester got Adele and all of the servants out and then went back for Bertha. But she jumped before he could get to her. Mr. Rochester was able to get out, but not before he was burned badly. The physician tried to save him, but his health was precarious. We did all we could, but it was not enough. He died yesterday". _

"_He what?" Jane asked. _

"_He's dead, Miss Eyre" Mrs. Fairfax repeated. _

"_Adele?" Jane asked._

"_Mr. Rochester was able to locate an uncle of Adele's mother…" Mrs. Fairfax continued on, but Jane heard and saw nothing, except the world spinning and then going black. _

_The next thing she knew, she was laying on one of the beds in __Ferndean. _

"_You are up, Miss Eyre; we were all quite worried about you. The viewing will begin in a few hours, Mrs. Fairfax instructed me to help you get ready…" Leah repeated Mrs. Fairfax instructions, but Jane did not hear them._

"_I must go…" Jane said, quickly gathering her belongings. _

"_At least have some breakfast" Leah offered. _

_But her offer was heard on deaf ears; Jane was already out the door. _

_She returned to Moor House as mysteriously as she left, her cousins Mary and Diana surprised to see her return as quickly as she had left._

"_Jane?" they asked, but the door to her bedroom closed before she could answer them._

_Jane spent the next month in her room, barely eating or sleeping. _

_Then the letter came._

"_My darling Janet,_

_If I cannot give you my name, then at least be comforted that my heart and my fortune are forever yours, for I know you will keep them both well. Please do not mourn for me, faerie, for we will meet again one day. _

_Yours, Edward Fairfax Rochester"_

_For the first time in her life, she cried. She had never cried for the parents she had never known, for the lonely and heartbroken child she had been at Gateshead, for Helen, her only true friend she had as a child. But for him, for the love she had for him, for the life they could have together, she cried._

"_Jane, what is wrong?" Her cousins pulled her to her feet._

_It took her a few moments to reply._

"_He left me everything" she finally let out._

"_Who is he?" Mary asked._

_Jane finally told her cousins the truth, her love for Edward, her broken heart when it was revealed that he was already married, why she kept her secret and when she had finally returned to Thornfield, he was dead. _

"_Jane, why did not tell us?" Diana gently inquired. _

"_I do not know". _

"_You must not hide from us, Jane, we are your family"._

"_Thank you" for the first time since she left Thornfield, she felt the comfort of being wanted and loved._

_She woke up a few months later, feelings as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Then her cousin, St. John came around._

"_Jane, I…" for the first time since she met him, he seemed to be a loss for words. _

"_I know what you are going to say and I am flattered, but no"._

_Combining her inheritance with Edward's fortune, she purchased the land and the school from the local magistrate. Renaming the school The Fairfax School For Young Ladies, Jane opened the school up to any student who wished to come, vowing to give her pupils the exact opposite of her experience at Lowood. She never married. _

For the next forty years after Edward's death, she continued as owner and headmistress of The Fairfax School For Young Ladies.

After leaving Mrs. Fairfax an annuity and Ferndean for her own, Jane sold Thornfield, too heartbroken to ever return.

Then one day, as the afternoon rain finally cleared, a misty fog appeared.

"Mrs. Hartwick?" Jane called out.

"Yes, miss?" the housekeeper appeared.

"I will be going for a walk, I shall return for dinner".

"As you wish, miss".

As Jane walked, she remembered. It was the same type of the day, the same type of fog, almost supernatural in the way it settled.

She could almost hear the sound of hoofs in the distance.

"Jane…." She heard him call to her in the wind.

"Edward" she turned around to the direction of the voice.

In the mist, she could nearly make out the figure out a man riding a horse followed by a large dog.

She was found nearly 3 hours later. When dinner was served and Miss Eyre had not returned from her walk, Mrs. Hartwick became concerned and sent out for her; Miss Eyre was always prompt for everything.

Mrs. Hartwick paced as the physician examined her employer.

"I cannot distinguish what has caused Miss Eyre's condition. However, I recommend bed rest and a light diet until her health recovers" gathering his satchel, the physician walked out.

For the next two days Jane slept.

Mrs. Hartwick kept watch at her employer's vigil, hoping that she would awake from her slumber.

Jane finally woke up to find Mrs. Hartwick carrying a tray with soup and tea, as per the physician's instructions and a letter from Adele.

"Miss Eyre, we found you two days ago, we were quite worried about you".

Jane only smiled, remembering nothing of the past few days, except seeing the specter in the road.

"A letter came from Mrs. Fitzsimmons". Mrs. Hartwick continued before walking out.

Jane and Adele had been exchanging letters for 20 years. Since Adele and her family had visited her, Adele had three more sons. Her oldest son, Eduard had since married and Adele and Alexander had welcomed a granddaughter, a girl named Jane.

"Will there be anything else, Miss Eyre" Mrs. Hartwick knocked an hour later.

"No thank you, Mrs. Hartwick, I think I shall rest for a while" Jane replied as the housekeeper picked up the tray and left the room.

Closing her eyes, she dreamed. She was back at Thornfield, as she remembered it, before it was destroyed by the fire. As she entered the grounds, Pilot greeted her warmly.

"Miss Eyre, he is waiting for you" Mrs. Fairfax greeted her.

After all of these years, he looked the same. His dark brows furrowed together as he turned around.

"Edward…" everything she had ever thought of saying to him disappeared in an instant.

"Hush, faerie, after all of these years, there is nothing to say" he enveloped her in his arms and after all of the years of pent up passion, their kiss was far more than just a kiss.

Mrs. Fairfax watched their reunion from her window. She had known Edward Fairfax Rochester for many years, before Jane Eyre entered their lives. She knew there was a change in him when he met the governess. If the love between Miss Eyre and Mr. Rochester was meant to be, it would reveal itself in due time.

"Have you seen Adele?" Edward asked as they walked, their limbs entwined with each other.

"I have, she is grandmother".

Jane was found the next morning, her body empty, but with a smile that had not been seen in many years. She was buried on the property, her fortune divided between her cousins, Adele and an annuity left to school. She has been there for these many years now and sometimes at night, if you look and listen very closely, you might see her spirit wandering the grounds and beside her, her beloved Edward, for nothing will ever tear them apart again.

The end.


End file.
